


Black Sheep

by Immortalpen



Series: Reylo parallel universe collection [3]
Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-30
Updated: 2018-05-21
Packaged: 2019-04-30 03:19:45
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 14,839
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14487702
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Immortalpen/pseuds/Immortalpen
Summary: He can’t let her catch him, and she can’t stop trying… its a game of cat and mouse… who will win?Art thief vs bounty hunter AU Modern.Inspired by Black Sheep - Gin Wigmore.





	1. Chapter 1

             

 

 

_Got a pistol for a mouth, my own mama gave me that_

_Black Sheep_

_Gin Wigmore_

 

 

Rey Kenobi wasn’t in the habit of going to bars and picking up strangers, but there was something about tonight that drove her out her shabby apartment, and to the nearest dive bar. Lowly lit, with neon signs, everything was very slightly sticky. She ordered a rum and coke, a double, and drank it quickly, checking out the local patrons.

 

Maybe it was because she had been in America for a whole two months, and had yet to learn anything about her birth parents, or maybe because her dead-end job at Plutt’s Private Investigations was still just that, a big fat dead end. Or maybe it was the Facebook update of her ex-boyfriend back in London, announcing his engagement.

 

She tried to put both out her mind, her eyes flickering over a couple of men sitting by the jukebox.

Unkar Plutt, her boss was no prince to work under. Stuffing himself into a hideous array of leather trousers and tight waistcoats, bustling out the door to track down cheaters and missing business partners, while racking up the billable hours. He took on private bounties too, as legally questionable as it was, and that was where he made his rent.

 

Rey, on the other hand was failing at that on a pretty regular basis. The only reason she hadn’t been kicked out her apartment was because it was above the PI offices, and belonged to Plutt too. He liked to have someone in there, in case the place got broken into or set on fire. He ignored her late rent and she ignored the way he looked at her ass when she bent down to reach the bottom drawers of the filing cabinet.

 

Then there was the Facebook engagement. A sour look crossed her face as she ordered another drink and knocked it back, resisting the urge to pull out her phone and go through all his previous posts and albums to catch it – that elusive moment when dating had turned into love and happily ever after.

 

Her foster mother would tell her that it was genetic, this failure to form attachments. Inherently predisposed to a life of solitude, a lone wolf. She had heard it so many times, the story of her parents. How her mother met Rey’s father in a bar in LA, picked him up and took him home, neglecting to mention that she was moving with her family to England only one week later. She had been living in London two months when she realised she was pregnant. She’d had the baby, and when her father job moved her back to USA, she’d left her with the neighbour.

 

Now, Rey was over here, trying to find a father who didn’t know that she existed and a mother who had abandoned her. She had made zero headway, and was starting to lose hope. The only thing that stopped her from just giving up and going home was the thought of what her foster mother would say.

 

“Vodka soda” a low, masculine voice said confidently beside her, and she glanced over, before running her eyes over the fine specimen that had leaned on the bar next to her. Dressed in black, and positively towering over every one else in the room, the man was striking and had exactly the right kind of wrong written all over him.

 

Feeling her gaze on him, he glanced her way, and gave her a quick once over. Rey resisted the urge to sit up straighter under his scrutiny.

“For your girlfriend or are you on a diet?” she asked, and was rewarded with the man’s full attention, as he shifted around to lean on the bar in her direction, his full mouth quirking into a smirk.

“Neither actually” he said, and raised an eyebrow at her own drink.

“For your boyfriend or are you trying to get blackout drunk?” he enquired, and Rey sighed and turned away.

“Wouldn’t you like to know” she murmured, taking another long sip of her strong drink.

“I would actually, especially if it’s the first one” he matched her low tone, and she felt a flush of heat travel down her side at his proximity.

“Do you come here often?” he asked, and she gave him a little smile.

“That’s a terrible line” she said.

“I was actually asking, it doesn’t seem like the kind of place a girl like you should be spending her time. Londoner?” he asked. She nodded.

“You know your accents, have you been?”

“A few times” there was something about his mouth that she couldn’t seem to tear her eyes from. It was a very good mouth.

“Business or pleasure?” she asked, knowing she was staring, but hardly caring.

“Both” he said, returning her direct perusal of his features, his hazel eyes almost a caress on her own mouth.

“And what brings you to a place like this on a Friday night?” she asked, as he pulled out his phone, an unreadable expression on his striking face, before he tucked it away, and gave her a crooked smile.

“Both business and pleasure… well it was, now it’s just one” he said, his voice almost a purr, leaving her in no doubt as to which one he meant.

She gave him a slow, blatant once over, feeling more confident now this strikingly handsome man was giving her his full attention. His face was an interesting mix, vividly dark eyes and pale skin, dotted with beauty spots, full lips and a long nose, winged brows and long, dark hair, brushed off a high forehead. His eyes were warm and his mouth tilted in a grin, turning him from attractive into devastating. She noticed a bag in his hand, a familiar label on the strap, a concierge’s ticket, her PI brain filled away. The Winchester. Nice place, she though, pulling up her catalogue of fancy places to stay in the city.

The stranger was studying her with similar intensity, and as she raised her eyes back to his, he leaned forward against the bar, bringing his arm into contact with hers.

“Do I pass inspection?” he asked.

“You’ll do” Rey announced, with a matching smirk. Her head was feeling pleasantly buzzy and soft. She raised her glass back to her lips, and stilled as the man reached out and stopped her.

“Let me get you something else to drink” he suggested, and Rey looked at him in askance.

“I still have a whole drink left, as I’m sure you can see”

“But I’d prefer you didn’t finish it…” he said, and Rey stared open-mouthed at his presumptuousness.

“I don’t generally need a keeper, I can manage just fine on my own” she said tightly, crossing her arms over her chest.

“I’m sure you can, but I don’t go home with drunk women” he said lightly, and Rey flushed, suddenly embarrassed.

“And what exactly made you think we were going home together?” she asked with a scoff born of hurt pride. He watched her a moment longer, his dark eyes running her over one last time, a look of disappointment tinging his expression, before he straightened up, pulling himself back, and Rey felt his instant loss of warmth.

“My mistake, I apologise for the presumption” he said, and something in the wry twist of his lips made it clear that her display of pique was completely transparent.

He turned to leave, and Rey panicked, thinking how as soon as he’d gone, she’d be alone again. Her hand shot out and grasped his wrist, stopping him gently.

“Sorry… I didn’t mean to be a bitch” she said. He looked down at her with a faint air of amusement.

“It’s not being a bitch to tell someone you’re not interested in them” he said. She swallowed, her cheeks heating a little as she confessed,

“Yeah, well, I kind of did an about face on you… led you on” she mumbled. After a long moment, where she avoided his gaze, she was surprised to see him turning fully back to her.

“It’s not being a bitch to change your mind either” he said, before gesturing to the empty bar stool beside her.

“May I?” he asked, and she nodded, biting her lip to quell her smile.

“Yes, and I’ll take a coke, if the offer still stands” she said, raising her eyes to peek at him through her lashes. He smiled broadly at her and leaned over to order the drink. It looked like the evening just got a lot more interesting.

His name was Ben and he was an art collector. Rey wasn’t sure exactly how you made money at that, but she was quite certain you had to start with a lot of money to begin with. She couldn’t bear to reveal the seedy details of her job, and so just told him she was an executive assistant, and left it at that.

He asked her about London, and so she told him all about her neighbourhood, Hackney, not the most glamourous but growing in popularity due to gentrification. Quite a different picture than when she had grown up, he had pointed out.

“And when exactly would that have been?” he asked, and Rey spluttered out a sip of coke, wiping her mouth with her hand, as he offered a tissue.

“Is that your smooth way of asking how old I am?”

“It’s my smooth way of checking I’m not breaking any laws…” he murmured, a warm look at her making her flush.

“What laws? We are just two people, sharing a drink. Non-alcoholics ones at that. It’s practically wholesome”

“Not in my head it’s not” he replied, with a truly, wicked grin. She resisted the urge to fan herself with her hand.

“I’m 24, old enough” she said, letting him drink his fill of the side of her face as she concentrated on tearing her napkin into shreds.

“Why did you come here tonight, Rey?” he asked as she collected herself, drinking his water, having switched after one drink. She shrugged.  
“You can tell me, no judgement, I promise” he continued. She considered him a moment, feeling oddly comfortable with this stranger who was bent over on a bar stool far too small for him, his long legs cramped under the bar, smiling at her with ease. She had already told him she was trying to find her birth parents, neglecting to mention that instead of being adopted, she was fostered, and a long and unsteady array of creeps that had been her guardians over the years.

“Ok, I came here because I’m sick of my job, and I am sick of getting nowhere with trying to find my parents, you know, just the very reason I came. And then, to top it off, I saw my ex announce his engagement online, and it just highlighted how isolated I am-“ she trailed off, aware that she had gone from complaining, to sharing something very personal.

“Usually I’m fine, I get on with my day and I go to work and I smile and chat and… I don’t know… pretend… that everything is fine. And I can do that most of the time… until I can’t. So, I thought I’d come here, and try and find a way not to be so lonely for a while” she said, horrified to find tears had sprung up, unshed in her eyes. She blinked them back, and gave an uncomfortable laugh.

“Sorry, needy lonely girl, not really a turn on, right?” she said.

“You’d be surprised.” He said in a low voice, and she looked up at him, surprised.

“Really? You’re not saying that… out of pity?” she asked warily, surprised when he just looked at her, with something akin to wonder on his face.

“You have no idea, do you?”  he said, a little smile of satisfaction playing around his lips. He twisted in his bar stool, shifting his knees so that they bracketed hers, pressing in a little, so she was aware of him, a cage around her legs.

“Your appeal, your effect. Sexy as hell, and brave enough to be vulnerable.” He murmured, his eyes steadily fixed on her. She flushed at his compliments, but didn’t respond. She wasn’t sure what to say. To dispute them might sound like fishing for more and so she simply stared right back, meeting his direct gaze fearlessly.

“Rey, I’d like to spend the night with you, if you’d allow me” he said, shocking her and turning her on simultaneously. Ben the art collector was a man who knew what he wanted, and she would be lying if she said it wasn’t exactly her thing.

He stood slowly, pulling on the leather jacket he had cast off earlier, his long hair flipping over the collar. He extended his hand to her, his long, pale fingers waiting for hers. No pressure, no coercion, just an invitation.

“What do you say?”

“Let’s go”

 

* * *

 

 

They barely made it into the lift before he was turning and backing her slowly against the mirror, as she watched him with anticipation. His hands landed on the mirror parallel to her head, caging her again, and she raised her hands to his arms, sliding her fingers up the leather, then bunching in the neck of his t-shirt and pulling him closer.

“Now, I don’t want to presume anything, but given how you just watched me pay for a hotel room, and dragged me into the lift… can I kiss you, Rey?” he breathed, a ghost of a smile on his mouth.  
“You better” she said, pushing herself up on her tiptoes to reach his generous mouth. The kiss was hard and hot, right from the start. Their tongues warred for dominance, she bit and sucked at his lip until he hissed, and pushed her even further into the glass, his hands going to her wrists, pressing them against the wall behind her.

“Play fair” he admonished lightly, as the lift stopped and the doors slid open. The walk to the room was never-ending, everything on her body was burning up, and only his touch would put the fire out.

He fumbled with the lock, and the endearing quality to his frantic swiping of the key card was hotter than any display of confidence could be.

The door was finally opening, and the room dark, the white canvas of the bed stretching out before them. She had been relieved when he had suggested a hotel, not wanting him to see the tiny, dingy studio above the PI office. She had expected The Winchester, but he had taken them to another place, and taken a room for the night.

Rey had only just made it inside the room, when he was capturing her lips again, his hands, so large and yet, so gentle, stroked over her cheekbones reverently, before he was stripping off his leather jacket, and pulling his t-shirt over his head, leaving his long hair tousled and in his eyes in its wake. He looked at her with a dark intensity that was utterly captivating, as she shed her own layers, and when she was down to bra and panties, he descended on her.

He grabbed her around the waist, and anticipating him, she reached up around his neck, as he pulled her up, her legs wrapping around his well-defined middle. He once again walked her backwards into the wall, and this time, pushed her against it. The cold contrasted with the furnace his bare skin was against her chest. His lips were urgent on hers, and she gave back as good as she got.

He let the wall take the weight of her top half as he propped her against it, and brought his hands to rub across her lips, as she pressed kissed into the pads of his fingers, and then, wetted by her, they swept down, circling her nipples, hard through the lace of her bra.

 

Rey was writhing against his hips, and the readiness she could feel there. His arousal was making her mouth water, and given how long he was taking with her breasts, she started to plan how she could move things along. She suddenly felt desperate to be filled by him, wholly and completely.

“Bed” she whispered, as his mouth continued its leisurely path across her breasts, his large hands kneading and squeezing, making her back arch. He hummed against her skin, making her gasp, as she wriggled her legs down from his waist.

“Bed” she said again, her tongue feeling heavy and swollen in her mouth. She caught sight of his eyes, still burning with dark fire, against his pale skin in the moonlight from the window.

“Not so fast” he murmured, before dropping to his knees before her.

“Let me look at you” he continued, hooking fingers into the hips of her underwear and slowly drawing them down. Rey’s breath hitched as he did just as he had requested, after getting rid of her panties. He reached out and gently brushed her, and she shuddered. Everything was heightened by the build-up, and it had been so long, she was wound so tightly. She could feel his warm breath against her skin and it made her writhe.

“Beautiful” he murmured, and looked up at her, his face open and honest. She smiled back at him, not feeling exposed as she had expected, but worshiped. She wound her fingers through his long, silky hair, tugging at his scalp, and he moaned involuntarily, before dipping his head forward and placing his lips on her.

She bent over, the pleasure curling through her with almost painful intensity. His hands were rising to her leg, draping it over his shoulder, and returning his mouth to her centre. His tongue, probing at first, was insistent, finding the bundle of nerves that made her knees tremble, lathing it, sucking on it, while his long, skilled fingers stroked through her folds, gently pushing inside.

She rose and fell on a wave of pure sensation, her fingers in his hair and her leg on his shoulder the only thing anchoring her.

When she crested, she felt like she was falling from a desperate height, and he was with her through the come down, pressing kisses into her thighs, his fingers now trailed aftershocks over her abdomen. He stood, so tall over her, his face hungry as she took his hand. Recovered, she finally succeeded in gaining the bed, as she fell-down onto it, and pulled him down with her. With him cradled between her thighs, peppering kisses over her face and cheeks, their pace still frantic, Rey twisted so that she was straddling him, her legs just barely reaching over his hips, and caught his hands, and raised them above his head, pressing them into the sheets.

“Don’t move” she instructed, and enjoyed the liquid heat that shot through his gaze at her command. He arched his back, making all the muscles in his torso flex. She ran her hands over them appreciatively, enjoying all the corded power, splayed helplessly beneath her.

Her explorations continued further down as she pulled his underwear down, and palmed him, her smile showing her approval of his body, and he growled lowly, as he watched her envelop him in her mouth, sucking up and down his hard length, trailing her tongue up one side and down the other.

“Rey” his voice was strained, desperate, and she climbed back up to straddle him, satisfied she had tortured him enough.  
“Protection” he said gruffly, even as she gripped him at the base and nudged him gently inside her.

“Implant” she gasped as she worked herself down, bit by bit, the stretch almost overwhelming. She knew it wasn’t responsible, that she didn’t know if he was disease free, but something in her told her that he wouldn’t let it go so far if he wasn’t. Then again, it could have just the lust talking.

Once she was seated fully, they both paused. She opened her eyes and could see him watching her in the dark, his hands bunched in the sheets above his head, like it was an effort not to move them. She rolled her hips a little, and he jerked inside her, making them both moan. Rey began to move then, rising and falling, carefully at first, but growing bolder as it became more comfortable.

His eyes continued to watch her closely, as she bounced on him, her hands against his chest for support, her breast bouncing in the air, her head falling back as the sensations swept over her.

“Can I touch you?” he asked in a strangled tone.

“Please” was all she could manage as she nodded. Instantly his arms were around her, touching her breasts, roving around her waist, and pulling her down into a deep kiss, her changed angle allowing him even deeper, and Rey moaned into his mouth as he kissed her.

Where before had been reckless and frantic, now was slower, more purposeful, as Rey sat up and started to move again, his hands on her waist helping her, and then one, drifting back to that little bundle at the apex of her thighs, still swollen and throbbing from his mouth. He brushed it, once, twice, as Rey shuddered on top of him, and then, he was rubbing light circles against it, as she started to buck on top of him.

“That’s it sweetheart, let go” he was murmuring as she opened her eyes and looked at him. His wicked intent, along with his movements, the relentless pounding motion from below sent her over the edge, and she came for what felt like the longest time, he pulled her forward and pushed into her hard, again and again, and it only elongated her own climax, and then, he was coming too, she could feel him pulsing inside her, his arms jerking around her, a low moan of complete satisfaction slipping from him.

He gripped her to him a little longer, and then, before she slid off, he pressed a kiss to her mouth, chaste and close mouthed. Once she had settled into his side, he pressed another kiss onto her forehead.

She pulled away gently and sat up and his fingers circled her wrist. She looked back, already feeling a little shy, being naked.

“You aren’t running out of here already are you?” he asked lightly, but she could see a frown hiding just under his nonchalant expression.

“Nope, just, erm, freshening up” she said, and stood up, doing an embarrassed crab walk, turned sideways toward the bathroom, banging her elbow against the door as she fumbled with the light switch, and tried to get inside with exposing her whole body. She closed the door with a huff as she heard a low chuckle float over from the bed.

She went to the toilet and cleaned up, before splashing some cold water on her face, and risking a glance in the mirror. She looked strange. Tousled hair and wide, dilated eyes, her lips and nipples were pink and puffy and her chest red from his stubble. She looked properly bedded, and it was an arresting sight. The truth was Rey hadn’t been with many men, and certainly not one night stands. Ben, the art collector would be her second, if her first even counted. It had been with a police officer she had met through the PI office, and they had both gotten drunk and slept together. He had asked her out afterward and they had been on a couple of dinner dates, so she wasn’t sure if it counted as a one night hook-up. She didn’t feel inclined to sleep with him again, however, and the sex had in no way compared to what had just happened in the next room. In fact, nothing she had done before compared to what had just happened. Ben seemed to understand her body better than she did, and she shivered a little as she recalled the sensations he had given her.

 

“Rey, you ok in there?” his voice was a low rumble from outside the door, and she realised she had been standing there a long time.

“Just coming!” she yelled back, a little too loudly. Panicked at the thought of him opening the door and seeing her standing naked under the harsh lights, she grabbed one of the fluffy white robes from behind the door and put it on, securing the belt tightly around her slim waist.

She opened the door, and saw the low lights at the sides of the bed had been switched on, and Ben was standing, on the room phone, fully naked.

“What do you feel like eating?” he asked over his shoulder, handing her the room service menu.

“I’m fine, I had something earlier” she lied, eyeing the prices beside the listed items. $32 for a hamburger? He watched her with that unreadable expression he had, and took the menu back from her, speaking  into the phone again.

She went back to the bathroom and took out the other robe, placing it on the bed for him, just behind him, trying hard not to stare at the rear view he was so confidently providing. The man was an ode to strength, she couldn’t help but think, with his staggering height, long line muscles of his back sweeping into thighs and an arse that belonged in a musem, carved from marble.

He hung up and turned, and she averted her eyes and went to the window, looking through the gauzy floor length curtains down at the city below.

“This is for me, I take it” he said, and she could hear the smirk in his voice.

“I thought you might be more comfortable with it on…” she said.

“I’m perfectly happy as is…” he teased.

“Well, fine. I’d be a lot more comfortable if you had it on” she stiffened as she felt him approaching her, his large hands coming down to cup her shoulders. She risked a glance over her shoulder, relieved to see he had indeed put the robe on.

“Whatever you want, princess” he said with a smile, as he pulled her into a lingering kiss. Rey tensed, unsure now, wondering why he was initiating things again, curious if he was ready for another round already, and wondering when he would ask her to leave. He deepened the kiss, and she felt a surge of heat rise again, surprisingly. There was something about this man that her body responded to, in a way she had never felt before. She pulled away, as he moved his lips to her jaw and then down to her neck, licking, biting gently, scraping his teeth and soft lips down the sensitive flesh.

“Rey… where have you gone?” he asked suddenly, and she looked up at him as he halted his perusal of her shoulder, and straightened up before her.

“What do you mean?”

“I get the feeling you’re not really here… is something wrong?” he asked. She shook her head.

“Nothing, just tired, and I should probably get home soon” she said, and saw her words hit him, as his brow furrowed, in the most miniscule way, and his expressive eyes shuttered a little.

“You’re tired because you’re hungry, I’m guessing, and well… as for going home… you don’t need to rush away, not on my account. If you want to be alone, I can go” he said.

“What? No, of course not… it’s your room, I mean, you paid for it, so maybe you want to go to sleep or something”

“And I can’t go to sleep with you here?” he asked, and her heart beat a little faster. She was feeling awkward and confused and misreading everything.

“Look, if you want me to go, just tell me, plainly. You don’t need to be so nice… you don’t owe me anything” she said, getting a little worked up. Ben watched her a little longer, and then shocked her by pulling her into his chest and wrapping his arms around her, the long, heavy limbs almost completely enveloping her. He rubbed a warm palm in comforting circles on her back.

“Rey, you don’t do this very often, do you?” he said, and she stiffened in his arms.

“If you’re implying I was bad at it-“

“Please, I think it was obvious how good I thought you were at it… I mean, it’s not causal and easy for you, therefore, I think you’ve not done it often” he clarified and she relaxed as she realised she wasn’t being criticised. She shook her head.

“Remind me how old you are again?” he said, leaning back and looking at her, face clean of make-up, wrapped in a robe that dwarfed her.

“24, and you’re right, this might qualify as my first… one night stand” she said with a little smile. He looked at her a whole lot longer than was necessary, before his face melted into a smile.

“You’re quite the find, you know that?” he said, stepping back and releasing her.

“Well, you’re not too shabby yourself” she said, feeling her confidence creep back in.

“Stop, that’s too much, you’re spoiling me” he teased her again, settling on the bed, and turning on the TV. She watched him. He seemed so relaxed and at ease, almost boyish without his clothes. He flipped through the channels, before looking over at her.

“Any preferences?” he asked. Rey shook her head, before sitting gingerly on the corner of the bed.

“Rey, I don’t bite” he murmured, and she flushed as he reached out and grabbed her pulling backwards until she was resting against his side. It was ridiculously comfortable, and she wanted to stay snuggling in there forever, which of course, made her start trying to pull away. She shouldn’t get attached to a passing stranger. She wasn’t someone people ever stayed with, and getting attached to someone who was only around for one night was just inviting heartache.

“I really should be going” she said.

“But who is going to help me eat all the room service I ordered… fish and chips and mushy peas, special order” he said, and laughed as she elbowed him in the stomach in her excitement to turn around, looking at him with delight.

“Really? With vinegar and salt and brown sauce?”

“I’m not sure about the brown sauce, but I can almost guarantee ketchup” he said, surprising her by reaching out and tucking an errant strand of hair behind her ear, before brushing the backs of his fingers across her cheek.

“Who knew the way to get you to stay would be to ply you with food?” he mused and Rey snorted.

“Not just any food… fish and chips” she corrected, and he nodded.

“Noted. Will you stay with me a while? Keep me company?” he asked, and she got the impression that he cared about her answer.

“Why? Because I’m so lonely and pathetic, I need human contact?” she said lamely, trying for a joking tone, but it ended up sounding sad.

“No, maybe because I do…” he said, and she knew from the vulnerable look in his eyes that he was being honest with her. She tried to think of what to say, how to comfort this man she had only met hours ago, but felt closer to than anyone she had met in all her time in America, probably half the people she knew at home too.

She opened her mouth to speak, and the room bell rang, heralding the arrival of their midnight feast. Ben got up to open the door, and Rey dragged herself out of the bed to grab her money from her jacket pocket. Ben tipped the waiter, and then turned to her, brandishing the fanciest looking fish and chips Rey had ever seen.

“Just like home?”

“Close enough” she grinned, and opened her purse.

“How much do I owe you” he shot her a dismissive look and turned to take another plate, this one sporting a rare steak and vegetables over to the table by the window.

“Ben, I can pay for myself” she said tightly. He sighed as he sat down.

“Come on Rey, stop fighting me on everything. You didn’t even order it, I ordered it for you. Just let me buy you dinner, please…. Can you allow me that?” he said, pushing out the chair opposite him with his foot and waiting for her to sit down. She finally obliged, and crossed her arms over her chest, scowling at him.

“Why are you being so nice?” she asked suddenly, unable to bear it a moment more. He winced and put down his cutlery.

“Surely the pleasure of your company is explanation enough, and, Rey, if you think buying someone dinner, after they have just shared… what we have just shared… is being especially nice, I suggest you find a different type of man to date” he said shortly, and gestured for her to start eating. Unable to find a response to that, she picked up her fork and dug in.

She became aware of his eyes on her, later, as she was finishing her meal, and shot him a small smile.

“That was impressive” he said mildly, putting down his own knife, leaving half an untouched steak on the plate.

“Aren’t you going to finish it?” she asked instantly. He shook his head.

“You can’t just let it go to waste” she insisted, as he pushed the plate over to her.

“Be my guest” he suggested, and she was caught between wanting to have it, and fear of looking greedy.

“One condition” she raised an eyebrow at him.

“I get to watch you eat it” he said, with a smirk. Her eyebrows shot up.

“You eat like it’s going out of style, and it’s kind of hot.” He admitted, with a laugh as she rolled her eyes and started on the remnants of the steak. It was excellent, and it was gone far quicker than she’d have liked.

“Dessert?” he suggested, but Rey shook her head, her stomach feeling a little too full.

“I couldn’t possibly” she said. He shifted his chair a little, and suddenly went to his knees, and she looked down at him in surprise as he pulled her legs apart and parted her robe. He pressed a hot, wet kiss to her navel and then descended and Rey gasp as his lips found her.

“Hmmm, I’ve definitely got a bit space” he murmured against her, and Rey sighed as her fingers lodged themselves back in his long, soft hair.

* * *

 

 

They ended up having sex more times than Rey could recall, when she woke in the morning, dead tired, but totally sated at the same time.

An alarm had gone off somewhere, and she had seen Ben heading into the bathroom, after brushing a kiss against her temple. She was splayed, naked, face-down on the softest bed she’d ever slept on, and all she wanted to do was snuggle in and go back to sleep. Unfortunately, the universe had other plans, as she was just drifting off again, to the sound of the shower in the bathroom, the room bell went. Groaning, she flopped over, and considered the very real possibility that she would have to be the one who went to the door.

The bell sounded again and she staggered up, slipping the robe back on and tied it, making for the door on shaky legs. The man had literally fucked her legless, she thought with a contented sigh. Pulling open the door, she saw a bellboy, waiting to take the plates.

He came in to wheel away the room service trolley, and it occurred to her that she should tip him. She wasn’t great at understanding the tipping rules here, but it seemed like something that would need a tip? Better safe than sorry, she reasoned, opening her purse. She looked inside and froze as she realised she only had a twenty. There was no way she could afford to tip that, but now the boy had seen her looking for a tip, it would be mortifying to have to explain. She spied Ben’s wallet, still on the bedside from the night before. He wouldn’t mind, she reasoned, as she picked it up and quickly flipped through, looking for the notes section. She was in luck and found an assortment of smaller bills, and pressed some into the waiting boy’s hand.

 One he had gone, she sat back on the bed, Ben’s wallet still in her hand, as she listened to the sound of him in the shower. She spied the corner of his driving license from the top corner of the black folded leather, and couldn’t resist opening it further to peek at the photo. He was one good looking man, she thought again, as she stared at the head shot.

“Rey? Do you want to grab lunch later? You don’t work on Saturdays, do you?” Ben called from the bathroom, and Rey felt a flush of pleasure in her chest. He wanted to see her again.

“Erm, not usually” she called, her fingers tracing the hard, rectangular outline of the license, as her eyes drifted over it. She was just reading the writing there, when something stood out, something that made her heart stop, and then restart. The name on the licence was Kylo Ren. It wasn’t Ben. She stared at it. It was definitely Ben in the picture, which means he had lied to her about his identity. A horrible feeling arose in her, picturing the many cheating husbands who Unkar followed and took pictures of, picking up random women in bars, tucking their wedding rings away beforehand.

With shaking hands, she looked in the wallet again, searching for another card with a name on it.

Another colourful rectangle, another driving licence. This one was different again. Adam Driver, it read and the picture was once again Ben. She delved deeper, and found another, and one more after that. All different names, issued from different states. All her instincts were yelling at her to get out of there. The man was lying to her, he wasn’t to be trusted, they screamed, even as her gut instinct argued back.

 

“There’s a place by the shore, fresh, Mexican, lots of fish, I think you’d love it-“ Ben was saying 10 minutes later when he left the bathroom, and came back into the bedroom, wrapping a towel comfortably around his hips, looking around for the little spitfire who had given him a night to remember.

“Rey?” he called, before realising that all her clothes were missing, and Rey was long gone.

 .

.

.

.

.

.

.

 

 

Rey unlocked the door of the PI office on Monday morning, still feeling exhausted and worn down. The rest of the weekend had been a roller-coaster of guilt and shame, and at this point she just wanted to forget the whole thing, though, she was pretty certain she wouldn’t be able to forget the best, most intimate night of her life to date, very easily.

That’s what had made it so much worse, she realised, the emotion. In those short hours, two complete strangers had sensed a similar emptiness in each other, and filled those lonely places until the sun came up, and it had felt like catching sight of a long lost friend, in a crowd of strangers, at once immediate and strong, a spark of recognition that ran bone deep.

“Hell, you look like shit” her boss said to her, as she sat down at the little desk she had, laden with files and post its.

“Thanks” she muttered, as she turned her computer on. It was ancient and took a year to load, and so she went through Unkar’s schedule with him, and then he lumbered away through to his office.

The phone rang, it was a wrong number, and then the fax machine rattled to life. Who still used fax, she had no idea, it started to spit out a letter, which she dutifully pinned up on the board above the printer. It was reserved for Unkar’s side projects of taking on illegal bounties. Unkar tracked the men down, returned them, or gave information to the people who had contracted him, and was paid handsomely for it. Her eyes were drawn to the finder’s fee for the latest one, and widened. $1,000,000.

Rey stared at it. It was ten times the usual amount, and completely unheard off.

“I’m expecting something from Snoke, bring it though, straight away” Unkar snapped from inside his office. Rey say the clients name, Snoke at the bottom of the newest letter, and unpinned it from the wall. He was a regular customer and paid big money. Whatever he did, she didn’t know, but he was always trying to find people who had wronged him, it seemed, so Rey guessed that he must be pretty awful.

The printer started to rattle out the picture, and she saw it was an official wanted by the FBI poster. It seemed Snoke was hoping Unkar would find the guy before the police did, something Rey did not have high hopes for.

“Bring it through when you’ve a chance, I know you’re mobbed out there” Unkar snapped from inside his office, and Rey pulled an unseen face, safely hidden away in the next room. She pulled the picture from the printer and the letter, and started through to Unkar’s office.

As she went, she glanced down at the picture, and froze, literally stopped stone-still, one foot still raised in the air, paused in the act of walking.

 

 

 

**Wanted by the FBI – in connection with the theft and sale of fine art and antiquities.**

Name: Ben Solo

Professional alias: Kylo Ren

 

     

This individual is suspected to be armed and extremely dangerous. Approach with extreme caution.

 

 

The rest of the day passed in a blur, as Rey stared unseeing at her laptop. She couldn’t process the implications of the morning. She had slept with one of the FBI’s most wanted. A professional thief and con man, she cringed to remember how she had accepted his art collector job, without really even knowing what it was. Of course, he was too confident and charismatic, handsome and tender. Of course, he had to be a criminal, because that was the kind of luck she had. In her mind’s eye, she saw license after licence with different names. She berated herself for her lack of judgement, for making another mistake in a long line of mistake after mistake.

She was still punishing herself when Unkar passed through, on his way out to his first appointment.

After a few lewd comments with a healthy sprinkling of insults, he left, and Rey let out a mini, frustrated scream in his absence.

She was tired of being lied to and misused, she was tired of being broke and having to suffer the company of men like Unkar to get by.

In a fit of anger, she stood up and went through to Unkar’s office, grabbing the picture of Ben from his desk and staring at it in anger. No wonder he hadn't worried about money, he just stole it. 

That money would change her life, she could find her parents, she could get out of Unkar's office. She could have a future. This didn't have to be another failure... it could be an opportunity. Something inside rebelled at the thought of stabbing the man she had spent that special night with in the back, that he had been genuine with her, even as her cynical head told her otherwise. He was a liar and a thief, and he deserved to be punished, she though angrily, even while knowing there was little chance of her boss getting him.

She took her keys and unlocked a safe in the wall of Unkar’s room, and gingerly removed a handgun. It was heavy and far too big for her. She’d never shot one, never even held one properly. She stared at it, considered putting bullets in, but decided not to. It was only for show, she didn’t want to accidently shoot someone.

She tucked it securely into the back of her jeans, took one last look at the picture on the desk, and stealed herself. Locking up the office, she hailed a cab, an expense but one she was sure to recover once she collected her finder’s fee on Ben Solo. After all, she knew something her boss didn’t. She knew where he was staying.


	2. Chapter 2

   

 

The Winchester was in the fancier part of town, basically the polar opposite from Plutt’s Investigations and the bar where they had met. She wondered why he was slumming it downtown, probably off to sell stolen goods, or something else unsavoury, and she had just seen that smile and dropped her knickers.

Rey berated herself for a good quarter of hour, before deciding to put it behind her and focus on the real guilty party. Ben Solo. The criminal.

She got the cab to leave her on the corner near to the Winchester, and got out, feeling extremely conscious that she was carrying a weapon, paranoid that everyone could see it through her leather jacket.

She sat on a bench outside a park across the street and tried to think this through. She had no idea whether he was still staying here. He could have moved hotels, or finished his business in the city, she didn’t know. Or, he could be in that building right now, ripe for the catching. Rey worried a moment that she had never really apprehended anyone, and basically had no idea how to go about it, but she comforted herself that the gun would tip things in her favour.

The FBI poster had said he might be armed too, but she hadn’t seen any sign of weapons on him, and anyway, the whole plan would only work if she was the one to get the jump on him.

She needed to be there in room, when he was vulnerable, and then make her move. Standing decisively, she crossed the road toward the hotel. Inside was opulent, the clientele, sleekly dressed in expensive clothes, and Rey suddenly felt very conspicuous in her black skinny jeans and leather jacket. She made her way to the reception and waited her turn behind a Russian teenager, complaining about the speed of the fibre optic broadband. Rey found herself distracted by the fact that it seemed like the teenager had diamonds on his sneakers, and stood staring a little too long as he finished and slouched away.

“Can I help you?” the receptionist said, and Rey pasted on a broad smile as she approached the gleaming marble desk. The man’s name tag read Finn and he smiled at her.

“Hi there… erm, Finn is it?” she said, trying friendly first.

“Yes, indeed, how can I help?”

“Miss Kenobi. I am planning a surprise visit for my boyfriend, and I thought it might be really fun to wait for him in his room, you know… for a _special_ afternoon… but I’d need a key card, or it’ll spoil the surprise.” She said, and Finn’s ears turned a little red at her insinuation. He nodded empathically.

“We should be able to help, what’s the room number?” he asked, and paused with his hands over the keyboard as Rey bit her lip.

“That’s just the problem, you see… I don’t actually know it… that’s part of the surprise” she said, and held her breath as Finn looked pensive for a moment.

“Well… his name? Let’s start there” he said, ready to type a name into the computer. Rey shifted nervously from foot to foot, scanning the lobby over her shoulder.

“Ben Solo” she said, and as soon as she had, cringed. Why would he use his real name? Finn was already typing, and soon frowning, as Rey had been expecting. She thought back to the driver’s licences, maybe one of them?”

“Actually, he might be going incognito… under an alias… can you try… Adam Driver?” she asked, aiming to keep her face nonchalant. It was the only name she could remember from her snooping through his wallet.

“Is he famous?” Finn asked, shifting closer, keeping his voice low, despite his obvious excitement.

Rey nodded.

“Totally famous.” She said in a confident tone. Finn’s eyes were sparkling as he returned to the computer, typing again. Rey held her breath.   
Suddenly Finn smiled, and Rey couldn’t believe her luck.

“We do have an Adam Driver here, room 507” he said.

“Great, could you give me a key card for the room?” she asked, gripping the counter hard to hide her excitement. Finn looked thrown for a moment, frowning.

“Erm, I’m not really sure.. it might be against policy” he said

“What’s the policy?” Rey asked.

“I don’t know, it’s my second day working here” Finn admitted.

They stared at each other, and Rey, thinking furiously, forced her smile back into place.

“Well, I understand, you know, rules and all that. I wouldn’t want to get you in trouble.” She knew the room number now, all she had to do was return later and request the key card. She could still do this, she told herself sternly, as she turned from the reception, clutching her bag to her shoulder, and ran into a wall of muscle.

 

She froze, as familiar hands cupped her shoulders, and she resisted looking up. Really, there were so many extremely tall men and the chances of it being him were astronomical really… her internal dialogue played on madly, even as she took in that familiar smell that she had basked in just a few short mornings ago of leather and spice.

“Rey?” his voice was gentle on her name, and she let out a sigh of resignation and looked up. Yep, he was just as handsome as she remembered, she thought sourly as he gave her the hint of a grin.

“I’d like to think you were looking for me, but my luck’s not that great” he said as she stepped out from under his hands and walked a little way from reception. The last thing she wanted was for Finn to say something about her surprise for her boyfriend.

“I’m here… for work” she said evasively, feeling uncomfortable, and more aware than ever of the gun at her back.  

“And we just run into each other? Maybe my luck is turning after all” he murmured, and Rey slapped down the part of her that rejoiced in his words. She had to try and salvage the situation. She had to get him alone.

“Are you – going up to your room?” she asked hesitantly, not realising how forward that was going to sound until his eyebrow shot up, and he was looking at her with a bemused expression.   
“I’m not, I was heading out, work things to do” he said, and Rey rushed to smooth it over.

“I just thought that maybe we could go to lunch, like you suggested” she said, crossing her arms over her chest and staring up at him.

“That was on Saturday”

“Yes”

“Today’s Monday”

“Right” she said, and chewed her lip. None of this was going to plan. She risked a glance back up to see he was still watching her.

“Look, about the other night. I’m sorry if I upset you, or did something wrong” he said, and she blushed and looked away.

“You didn’t its fine. I just thought goodbye would be awkward, so I left” she said. He rocked back on his heels.

“Fair enough” he said, after a long pause.

“Well, if you are free for lunch, I’m sure I can reschedule my plans…” he said, and her gaze shot up to his.

“Really?” she asked, a proper smile blossoming on her face. She thought she had blown it, but here she was, getting another chance.

“I would be flattered, but I am pretty sure that smile is at the prospect of food, rather than my company” he said, a wry grin twisting his lips, as he turned in the direction of the entrance, ushering her forward, his hand going to the small of her back.

This was fine, she told herself. She’d have lunch with him, and somehow, at some time, get him alone.

As she started to move, she felt his hand on the small of her back flinch away, and before she could think about what had happened, his other hand clamped down on her arm, hard enough to stop her in her tracks. She turned to look up at him, and saw a tightness to his features, that hadn’t been there before. He was smiling, but it was strained and for appearances.

“Rey, do you want to tell me why you have a gun jammed down your jeans?” he said quietly. She crossed her arms over her chest.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about” she said evenly, and he snorted, looking her over with altogether new expression, calculating and withdrawn.

“Who are you?” he asked after a long, tense moment.

“I’m – no one. Just Rey Kenobi” she said haltingly.

“I think we better go upstairs after all” he said lowly, and her eyes widened with trepidation for a moment. She shot a look at Finn, currently unoccupied at reception, staring at them, probably trying to work out what Ben was famous for. She tried to communicate to him with her eyes, a plead for help, but then Ben was pulling her toward the lift, and her feet were following.

 

* * *

 

 

The room smelled like him, and she found it difficult to tear her eyes from the unmade bed, wondering if he’d been alone the previous evening, before pulling her mind back on topic. There was something to confusing and intoxicating about this guy, she couldn’t seem to get a grip of herself.

Ben pushed her through the door, and she stepped into the middle of the room, whirling around to keep her eyes on him as he closed it, and slid the chain on. His eyes were fixed on her, and she realised after a moment, that he looked furious.

“Are you a cop?” he asked, without preamble. She shook her head.

“Did he send you?”

“Who?” she asked, even as her mind supplied the name _Snoke_.

“Why are you here?”

“For work, I told you” she said desperately, and gasped as he swooped low in front of her, low enough to bring him face level.

‘Why do you have a gun?”

“This is America, lots of people have guns!” she tried, but was met with a blank look.

“Did you bring it for me? Are you here to catch me?” he said, and Rey realised any chance of pretending that she didn’t know who he was had gone out the window. He went to reach for it, but she was faster, snatching it out and stepping away at the same time. She brought it up to face level, her arms extended straight in front of her, just like in the movies.

“Don’t move” she said, unprepared for the disarming way he simply walked over to a chair and leaned against it.

“Come on, Rey, I thought we meant more to each other than this… you can be honest with me” he said simply, crossing his arms over his broad chest, and actually sitting down, like she wasn’t holding a gun on him.

“I work at the office that has been hired to catch you”

“A private bounty?” he asked, nodding slightly.

“How much?” he asked, before looking away angrily.

“Actually, don’t tell me. So, you’re a bounty hunter” he said, his face still closed to her.

“No, I didn’t lie to you, unlike some people. I am just an assistant. My boss took the private bounty” she said.

“That doesn’t explain why you’re here and not him”

“Because I knew you were staying here… the concierge ticket on your bag” he thought about it a moment, and then nodded slowly.

“Smart girl, good observations” he said, and inspected her thoughtfully.

“Did you know who I was at the bar?” he asked, and Rey instinctively shook her head. He watched her cynically.

“We just got the job today.”

“So, why were you gone when I got out the shower?” he asked.

“I found your driving licences, looking for a tip in your wallet” she said honestly.

“It gave me a bad feeling, I thought maybe you were married or something” He held her gaze a moment longer, before his mouth curled upward in that familiar grin.

“That sounds honest… you are an honest person, Rey. I don’t think subterfuge suits you” he said, pushing himself up, and she raised the gun to keep it level with his face. He stepped closer and she started to panic.

“What are you doing? I’m taking you in, I’ve apprehended you” she said shakily, thinking that she was supposed to feel much more confident about that right about now. His smirk grew.

“Sweetheart, you must know, I can’t let that happen” he said, stepping closer again, and she backed away, keeping her eyes on him, until her back hit the wall.

“Why haven’t you called the police?” he asked.

“Because, I need the private reward money” she admitted. He considered her answer a moment.

“To find your parents?” he asked, and she ignored her treacherous heart that fluttered at his thoughtfulness.

“I could help you… we could work together, we would make a good team… a good fit” he said, his voice dropping to a low purr. He stepped forward again, so the tip of the gun was only centimetres away from his chest.

“Stop!! Stop or-“ she trailed off, frustration building as she realised just how powerless she was, despite holding an gun.

 “You’re not going to shoot me” he said, confidently.

“What makes you so sure” she asked, curiosity getting the better of her.

“You’re trembling” he said, his dark eyes dipping to her hands.

“Well, that doesn’t mean I’m not going to shoot you, just that my aim might be really bad.” She growled, and he smirked.

It was the smirk that did it.

While his eyes were still on the gun, she did the one thing he didn’t expect, and dropped her hand holding it to her side.

His eyes followed it, and he didn’t see her right hook coming for him. Her knuckles connected with his nose with a satisfying crunch, although it wasn’t the knock out she’d hoped for, the damn man was too tall and she didn’t have the right angle, it was still deeply satisfying. Hours at boxing class, sweating, bleeding and sometimes even crying onto the stinking stained matts of her local gym, days of torn knuckles and wrapping tape, all worth it, for the look of absolute shock on his face.

“Sweetheart, that was great, really, you’ve got potential.” he snorted, wiping blood from his nose, and smiling broadly, showing her his blood-stained teeth.

“You’re insane”

“Maybe so, it does run in the family” Ben said, with another smile, as he turned around and started to gather his clothes into a large leather holdall, blotting his nose with tissue.

“What?” she asked, confused, watching him pack. She was slowly realising that he was leaving and there was nothing she could do about it. She spun and reached for the phone, and suddenly, he was there, ripping the cord from the wall.

“Sorry, can’t have you making 911 calls. In fact, unless you want to come with me, start a new chapter, track your parents down together… I can’t have you following me either” he said, twisting a belt around his hands, and shooting her a regretful look.

“Don’t even think about it” she said, snatching her hands away, even as his much stronger ones reach out and snagged them. He pulled her back against his chest, his face pressed into her hair, as he wound the belt around her wrists.

“Hold still, it’ll rub your wrists if you’re not careful, and these are too beautiful to mark’ he said, gently touching the pale unblemished skin around her slender wrists. He walked her carefully over to the closet and pushed her inside.

“I’m going to make you regret this” she fumed, watching him with fire in her eyes as she pressed her back into the wardrobe wall.

“I have no doubt” he said, as he moved around the room, finished packing in record time, before coming back. He slid his hand into her pocket, and pulled her phone out. He wrote the number down in a slim black notebook.

“Why are you taking my number?” she demanded.

“I would have asked for it after our night together, but you ran away so quickly…” he said, a soft look replacing the customary smirk.

“You can’t possibly think I’ll ever want to speak to you, or see you, except to do better next time, or tell the police?” she said incredulously. His smile slipped as he tucked the notebook into his pocket.

“A man can but dream” he muttered, as he went and took the bathrobe tie, and approached her again, inserting it carefully between her lips.

“I apologise, I just can’t have you shouting for help, or getting free until I’m gone. You’ll understand later, when you find out more about me, my life, my family. That’s all still to come. The obsession of trying to find me, pursuing me will drive you deeper and deeper into my life, into my head… and maybe, just maybe, you’ll want to speak to me about it.” He said, smoothing some hairs back from her forehead as she complained through the gag.

“I’m sorry it had to go this way Rey, I really am. I felt something between us, something real, and I thought for a moment that you felt it too.” His eyes brushed over her features, and she stared up at him, willing him to remove the gag.

But then, he was closing the doors of the wardrobe and leaving her there, and she did try and scream, and kick as she heard a key turning on the other side.

“Until next time, sweetheart” he said from the other side, and then, left. He just left her there. She exhausted herself writhing about on the floor, trying to kick open the door, shouting and trying to work the gag down.

Finally, when she judged that maybe an hour had passed, she heard the sound of the door opening. She attempted to shout, but her voice had turned into a raspy whine. Light shifted under the door as someone unlocked the wardrobe and she saw the welcome sight of Finn, standing in his uniform, keys in hand, aghast expression on his face.  

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading and let me know what you think!


	3. Chapter 3

Rey bought as much junk food as she could afford before slinking off to her apartment to lie in bed and lick the wounds her pride had suffered. One thing she appreciated about America was how cheap it was to drown your sorrows in crap.

She was a tub of ice-cream down and starting on a jumbo packet of crisps, hoping to balance the sugar currently coursing through her veins when she succumbed to curiosity and pulled her laptop out from its hiding place under the bed and looked up Ben Solo and Kylo Ren. 

Kylo Ren searches pulled up a lot of news articles and headlines about robberies he was suspected off. There was strong evidence against him, however, his face was never actually pictured, as it seemed he wore a black and chrome mask during his escapades. He fit the body type though, ridiculously tall and strong, even dressed all in black and from blurry or grainy CCTV feeds.

Her search for Ben Solo was a little more confusing. The man didn’t seem to exist, outside of his FBI poster. No articles linking the two, no social media, not even old things, left over from high school online activity. He was a blank space.

She dragged herself into work a few hours later, dejected and exhausted. Her life had been upended over a weekend, and she was still trying to catch up. She had a missed call on her mobile, and just when she was about to call it back, the phone on the desk rang, and she answered.

“Plutt’s Private Investigations” she said, routinely.

“I’d like to speak to Plutt” an authoritative voice said in her ear. She cast her eye toward his empty office.

“He’s not available at the moment, may I take a message?”

“I wish to know the progress on my latest case, it is urgent, and I wish to impart exactly how very much so” the man said, and Rey could tell he was glaring at the phone as he spoke.

“Who is this speaking?” she asked, grabbing a post it and a pen.

“Snoke” the voice said, and Rey froze. Snoke, the reward, Ben Solo. She was actually speaking to the man who wanted to find Ben Solo so much, he’d pay a million dollars for it.

“Mr Snoke, I can assure you that Plutt is taking your case very seriously indeed” she said breathlessly. She heard a soft scoff come over the line.

“I am sure, though if he progresses at his usual speed, he can be sure that he shan’t be collecting the finder’s fee on this one. Perhaps it is time to take my business to another, more effective agency…” he said, and Rey panicked a little.

“I happen to know he has a good lead on him, great actually, physical contact was made yesterday”

Silence met her words, and she waited, agonising over the foolish admission.

“Unkar Plutt knows I require updating at every stage of the investigation. Who made contact?” the man asked, shrewdly. Rey found her mouth very dry.

“An assistant” she said. Silence once again, and Rey anticipated the next question, gritting her teeth against it. She was going to get fired, she just knew it, and then she’d lose her apartment and have nowhere to live.

“To whom am I speaking?”

“My name is Rey Kenobi”

“Miss Kenobi. A pleasure” he said, and she grimaced at the coolness of the words.

“May I assume it was you who made contact with Kylo Ren?” he asked.

“Yes, it was me” she admitted.

“He is a dangerous man, I assume you are trained for the task?” the man continued, and for some reason, Rey was sure that her welfare was not Snoke’s priority.

“I work here at the Investigation’s office” she demurred. Silence followed her non-answer, and just when she thought he had hung up, and rasping chuckle came over the line.

"I take it the contact was made in a professional capacity... or perhaps it was of a more personal nature?" he asked, and Rey wondered how to reply, and was still wondering when Snoke continued. 

“I like to know the people I am paying so handsomely. Come to my office and meet with me, I will fill you in on Kylo Ren, it might aid your attempts to capture him.” She swallowed, already dreading having to go. She thought of protesting, and knew instinctively that he wouldn’t be put off. Rey was used to men having power over her, and something in her recognised the voice of a man accustomed to being obeyed.

“And, Miss Kenobi, if I find your training is lacking, or Plutt is not making enough progress, then I will be moving my account” he warned, and Rey nodded dutifully.

“I understand”

“I’ll expect you at 1.30” he said crisply, and hung up. Rey stared at the receiver in her hand, before carefully setting it back in its cradle, wondering what she had gotten herself into.

 .

.

.

.

.

 

Snoke worked in a faceless skyscraper downtown, and by the time Rey had pulled herself from the subway and into the building, the air con chilled her sweat soaked skin and damp clothes.

She approached the security desk and within minutes was shooting upwards in a glass lift, staring at the sweltering city below, safe in her icy box, a taciturn security guard at her side.

They arrived at the top floor and she was escorted out, and through a series of connecting rooms, until she reached one that resembled an office, and met the cold, blue gaze of Snoke himself, or the person she assumed was Snoke. Older and distinguished looking, with a cold and hard countenance, he looked her up and down calculatingly.

“Miss Kenobi” he said, gesturing toward the lone leather chair set before the impressive desk. She sat and resisted the urge to twist her fingers on her lap. He watched her, and seemed to see all the things that she hid. The tiny run on the ankle of her flesh toned tights, and plaster on her heel for a blister. The cracking around the leather strap of her handbag and dark circles around her eyes. The places on her fingers where she had bitten her nails down, and the slight tremor in her fingers as she held them still on her knee.

“Mr Snoke” she said, after a long pause. He regarded her over steppled fingers. The office was sparsely decorated, though expensive art dominated many of it's walls, much of it vaguely recognisable, even to Rey's untrained eye. 

“So, you have had the pleasure of talking to Kylo Ren?” Snoke said at length. She nodded uncomfortably.

“Though, I shouldn’t say it was a pleasure, as manipulative and cunning as he is, I doubt it was an enjoyable experience” he murmured, taking in the slight reddening of Rey’s cheeks.

“Though I might be mistaken, perhaps you are the exception.” He continued, though his contemptuous gaze seemed to imply that he couldn’t imagine why.

“He was – courteous”

“Well, that is already more consideration than he shows most. It seems you have caught his interest, Miss Kenobi” he said, with a smile that was totally without humour.

“I wouldn’t say that.” She said immediately, suddenly sure that having Snoke know about the care Ben had taken with her, would be a dangerous thing. Snoke stood, and Rey watched as he walked predatorily around the desk.

“You are a long way from the big smoke, Miss Kenobi. What brings you to America?” he asked.

“What brought you?” she countered, and wondered at her daring. His eyes narrowed at her evasive answer.

“Why, the American Dream, of course. Where are you from?”

“The City”

“Not the Square Mile. East end?” She nodded slightly. He watched her closely.

“What kind of training do you possess that makes you think you’ll be able to take in Kylo Ren” his eyes slid over her like oil.

“Or do you plan on using other attributes to ensnare him” he continued. Rey flushed, but kept her defiant eyes on the man standing over her, doing his best to intimidate her.

“I don’t see why the means matter” she ground out. He nodded slowly.

“Perhaps they don’t. Do what you will, try your best, Miss Kenobi. And perhaps, we will see each other again, for that reward” he said. He turned away, and Rey stood up, understanding that she had been dismissed. She wondered why she had bothered to drag herself in just for Snoke to see her, cursing the waste of time.

“You said you’d tell me about him, to help me get him” she said hesitantly, clutching her bag strap in her hands.

“I did, didn’t I?” he said, sitting once again, turning his chair to look down on the metropolis below.

“He’s a violent and dangerous man. Charming and dashing” Snoke shot her a sideways glance, that set her cheeks aflame again.

“He is also violent and unpredictable. He cares nothing for people, though he will seem to, he feels nothing, though he will profess to. In short, he is a sociopath. He uses people. He can’t help himself.” Snoke said, and there was something in his tone, something that hinted that finding Ben was very personal to this cold, uncaring man.

“The real question, being that you have now seen his Wanted poster, is why are you not more afraid of him?” Snoke asked. Rey froze in the doorway, conscious that he was studying her very closely.

“I am afraid of him… of course I am. However, from yesterday… it seems like he wouldn’t hurt me – a woman” she said, leaning on Snoke’s gender stereotypes, hoping it paid off.

“I should disabuse you of that presumption, Miss Kenobi. Kylo Ren wouldn’t hesitate to hurt a woman, if she should get in his way. I would be more comfortable if you understood that.” He said it with devastating calm, and then turned to pick up his desk phone, nodding toward the door.

“If you’ll excuse me, I must return to work” and Rey was being propelling along the hall and back into the lift, and then, falling through the sun scorched air, her mind swimming.

.

.

.

.

.

.

 

Since Snoke’s office, she had felt an unnerving sensation of eyes on her back, and as she wove through the crowds, up and down steps, onto and off the train, the feeling had remained.

Three days later, and the feeling was only intensifying. Rey went to work, shopped for food, went for her run in the morning before the heat set in, and still she felt those phantom eyes.

She missed two calls on her mobile from unknown numbers, but didn’t call them back.

She continued to look for information on Ben Solo or Kylo Ren, and kept coming up blank. Snoke had called Plutt again and threatened to move the account.

Rey had no idea how to go forward. She needed to find something personal on him, some motivation, some connection to the world, places, people, but there just wasn’t anything. Her best option at this point was to wait for him to come to her, if he ever did, not that she had exactly encouraged him to. She berated herself for messing up at his hotel, which might prove to be the only time she had actually had a shot at bringing him in. Maybe she never really had a chance, no skills, no experience, just a shared experience and inside info on an elusive man, a chance she had squandered by not telling Plutt or the police.

She thought about him constantly, and not always in the way she should. She thought about their night together, about his dark eyes filled with amusement and a hint of desperation as she had tried to leave, the way he had pulled her chair out over room service at the hotel. Fish and chips and mushy peas, specially requested. She thought of how he hadn’t put pressure on her in the bar, and how he had asked her to stop drinking, if she was considering going to bed with him. All these things screamed at her that he wasn’t the man the news made him out to be, and yet, he had basically admitted to being him.

His hazel eyes had looked almost familiar as he had shut the wardrobe door on her, regret filling them, a hint of green in the late afternoon light. His smile, quicksilver, his laugh, so distinctive, she wondered if she really had heard it before. Why should she feel so unafraid of a wanted criminal? It was a mystery to her. Just because of that night? She really was naïve, she knew it well, but still couldn’t shake the sense that Ben Solo wasn’t a threat to her, even as she tried her best to apprehend him.

 

After a week of this feeling of being watched, a week of searches coming up in dead ends, she finally caught a glimpse of a dark figure, slipping behind a corner behind her, when she whirled around suddenly, as a bike shot past her, almost pulling her over. She really was being followed, she realised with a sinking sensation. Perhaps it was Ben, she readied herself for that possibility. She had already considered the ways in which she might manage to make him vulnerable, and there was only one advantage that she had found so far that seemed to disarm him, and that was herself. She wasn’t above a little play acting to get what she needed, and to do the right thing, she reasoned as she neared her building, glancing in shop windows at every opportunity to see if she could catch a glimpse of the person following her.

There were too many people, and Rey, at the bottom line, was simply terrible at catching a possible tail, just like every other vaguely PI skill she might need.

She entered the building that housed the office and her apartment, glad that if there was someone following her, they’d just think she’d gone into work.

Instead, she pushed past the door and climbed the stairs to the upstairs flat. She felt wrung out from being up all night, sweating out all the fluid in her body trekking uptown and now, nerves on edge and frazzled beyond belief. It seemed like the right kind of afternoon for a beer and then a nap.

She unlocked the door of the apartment, straight off feeling a blast of warm air hit her shiny face. The air conditioner in the unit was unreliable, and it seemed it needed another giggling with a knife down the side to work. She locked up behind her and threw her bag on the table, and kicked off her uncomfortable shoes. Immediately, she hiked up her skirt and pulled off her tights, hating the clinging material that had been cutting into her middle all day long.

She exhaled a long, hard breath, all her frustrations contained within it, before turning to the drawer to get a knife to fix the AC.

The slow, quiet squeak of the floorboard behind her was the only warning she got that she wasn’t alone, before large arms wrapped around her middle, one hand going over her mouth, and the other gripping the hand that was holding the knife.

“Rey, don’t panic. It’s just me. Ben” he said in her ear, and her body went into alarm, even as it melted into his now familiar embrace.  

She struggled to curse him, her voice muffled inside his hand, and he chuckled.

“You say the sweetest things… I’m going to take my hand away now… remember, if you scream and alert your boss, you won’t be seeing any of that nice little finder’s fee” he warned, before removing his fingers, though not her waist.

“Let me go” she said, immediately wiggling in his grasp, pushing him backwards with her hips in an effort to get him to move.

“As you wish” he said, releasing her, and she spun around and stared at him.

With his thumbs in his pockets, rocking back on his heels, Ben Solo made the very picture of charming innocence as he smirked at her.

“Heard you were looking for me, so thought I’d help out” he said, eyes twinkling. Rey fought down the outrage she felt in the face of how little a threat Ben found her, even if she had to begrudgingly admit he was right. She crossed her arms over her chest and stared at him. The laughter faded slowly from his features, and his face took on a more sombre expression.

"Are you alright?" he asked solely, his eyes running over, checking for damage. Rey crossed her arms over her chest and frowned at him.

"Why wouldn't I be?" she asked.

“I’m afraid your search for me has put you in a spotlight I didn’t foresee. I didn’t know… that you’d go to see him”

“Who?”

“Snoke. He’s not someone to attract the attention of… but you have, because of me” he said, anger spiking his words. He looked truly contrite for a moment.

“I’m sorry, Rey, but you have his attention now, without a doubt” he continued.

“Why does he care about me?”

“Oh, he doesn’t. He doesn’t care about anyone, except for what they can give him. And now, he thinks you can give him me – he doesn’t care about anything else”.

 

Rey turned away, rubbing her temples with her fingers, thinking furiously. If Ben was right, why should she care? She wanted to catch Ben Solo anyway. And another, deeper concern, why did he seem so worried for her.

She spied the bag she‘d brought home from the office sitting near her bed, through a crack in the door, and the glint of the handcuffs she had borrowed from Plutt. None of this would matter if she apprehended him right now, she reasoned.

“I have to visit the ladies” she muttered, turning away and going into her bedroom quickly, shutting the door behind her, missing his narrowed eyes as he followed her apprehensive movements.

Inside she grabbed the handcuffs and looked around the room, trying to work out where she could hide them, and how the hell she’d ever manage to get him into them.

“Rey?” his soft knock sent her heart jumping into her mouth, and she rushed to her room, and the poor excuse for a toilet in a room that was definitely a wardrobe in a previous life, and flushed, running the tap after.

She could feel time pressing down on her, and she glanced at the door and saw the handle turning slowly.

“I’m coming in” he called, and in desperation, Rey threw herself onto the bed, sitting as casually as she could on the edge of the sagging mattress, the handcuffs just behind her.

He pushed the door fully open, and stood on the threshold, looking at her, nonplussed at finding her on the bed.

“There’s a lot to tell you about Snoke, things that would stop you sleeping at night, but I’d rather you just took my word for it. He’s dangerous.” he was saying, as Rey nodded absently, thinking through her options. There really weren’t any, she knew, but she had to try. His words finally caught up with her.

“He was your boss, wasn’t he?” she asked, voicing the suspicion she had been harbouring since meeting him. 

“For a time. The kind of men Snoke has working for him, they’ll be watching you, and they aren’t to be trusted” Ben said, leaning in the doorway. Rey stared at him, a cold feeling sinking in her stomach.

"Men like you?" she said, and he almost flinched. His hands curled into fists at his sides, though his face remained as pleasant and uncaring as always. The mask of a professional.

"And there I thought we were becoming such good friends" he murmured softly. 

“So… what do you suggest?” she asked finally. He stared at her a long time, seeming to mull something over, before speaking.

“You could come with me, somewhere Snoke doesn’t know” he seemed to brace himself for her reaction. Rey wanted to scoff and laugh in his face, but she didn’t. If she wanted to apprehend him, catch him off guard, she would have to lure him into a false sense of security.

“For how long?” she asked softly. Ben looked thrown by her question, perhaps having expected a full out refusal, and shoved a hand through his long hair, pushing it back off his forehead.

“I don’t know… until it’s safe… until its time” he said cryptically, and Rey almost scoffed, before remembering that she was supposed to be playing along. She bit her lip, and looked beseechingly up at him.

“This is all a bit overwhelming” she said quietly, and felt a little bad at how concern sharpened his gaze. He approached her. She extended her hand, patting the cover beside her in invitation. He sat slowly.

“I’m sorry you had to get mixed up in it” he said again.

“If you were really sorry, you could just let me apprehend you” she said, and a wry twist appeared on his generous lips, as his eyes moved over her face.

“If I hadn’t met you, maybe I’d be more inclined to get sent away… as it stands, my life just got a lot more interesting…” he murmured, sitting a little closer to her, and she carefully put her hand behind her back, clasping the open handcuff, edging closer to him. She was just trying to distract him, she reminded herself, desperate to ignore the way her head was pounding, not with fear, but with excitement and desire, the heady masculine smell of him washing over her. She swallowed, and his eyes fell to the movement, tracing the column of her neck.

“I could visit you” she offered, her eyes on his lips, as she whetted her lips involuntarily. He smiled.

“Quite the offer, but I’d rather be free to do… this?” his voice held the hint of a question, as his hand rose to cup her cheek, dragging her gently into him, and when she didn’t pull away, when she leaned in even closer, captured her mouth with his.

She tried not to lose herself in the kiss, she really did. It was torturously slow and drugging, and befuddled her senses while it set her body alight.

It took for longer than Rey would later admit to herself to bring her mind back to her task. Ben had moved his full lips to her neck and was pressing kisses over her collarbone, his hand playing with the buttons of her shirt.

“Take it off” she whispered, thinking it would keep one wrist in plain sight, and wondering if there was really any way of have a quickie before taking him down.

He started to unbutton her shirt, trailing goose bumps in the wake of his blunt fingers.

His dark eyes were raptly fastened on each inch of skin that was being gradually revealed, and Rey counted on that distraction as she manoeuvred the cuff around, and with a burst of speed, latched it onto Ben’s wrist, stopping it’s lazy decent. He stared at her, an eyebrow twitching upward, his head falling a little to the side, and then, faster than Rey could catch, his other hand grabbed her wrist, and she felt the cold hard clasp of the cuff around her own wrist.

They stared at each other, bound together.

“So, sweetheart… what’s the plan?” he asked conversationally, as Rey struggled to process how all of this had gone south so quickly.  
“Now – I take you in” she said lamely, forcing her eyes to meet his, and brazen it out. Her body was still on fire from his touch, her heart pounding at her gamble, and embarrassment squirming through her veins at her attempt being so ham-fisted and easily foiled.

“And how do you plan on doing that?” he asked, shifting back on the bed, lying his long, broad body down on the creaking frame, a movement that tugged Rey across his chest by her arm.

“I don’t exactly feel like moving, so… how are you planning on motivating me?” he asked, another dry tone to his voice. His face was closed to her as she leaned her elbow on his sternum.

“Are you going to pretend to seduce me again?” he asked, and Rey saw the tiniest flash of vulnerability in his gaze, hurt, just under the callous smirk.

“Do you want me to?” she asked, for lack of anything better to say. He shrugged.

“Princess, there’s a lot I want you to do, but none of them involve pretending” he said bluntly. Rey flushed, avoiding his gaze.

“Why do you keep doing that?” she asked suddenly, the words bursting out.

“Keep doing what?”

“Pretending that one night of random sex meant something to you. Like I mean something to you.”

“Who says you don’t?” he challenged back, and she saw his mask of charming indifference slip again for a moment.

“I don’t understand this game you’re playing” she said. He stared up at her and she could fee his heart beating through his chest. It was pounding, as though he were nervous somehow. Nervous, to be here with her.

“Come with me… come with me, and I’ll explain everything.” He said suddenly. His expression was open, honest, She felt comfortable with him, as absurd as it was, based on how little they knew each other and their relationship.

“I don’t need to hear everything” she replied softly, and his expressive face closed a little at her words.

“Fine. I’ll spare you my sob story… I’ll tell you everything about what _you_ care about” he said.

“Rey, I know where your parents are. I’ll tell you everything.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry for the slowness of updating, this, but especially CFL... it's inexcusable ((( 
> 
> The only explanation I have is that sometimes, I get a little down, and everything is a little dark... and I can't write properly, or do anything properly. 
> 
> I think it's passing. I'm trying hard to make it pass, which is a good thing that I even want it to, so... here we go... a little update, which I hope will get me back on track. 
> 
> Thanks for reading and waiting and comments always make me smile xx

**Author's Note:**

> Hi guys! If you're coming over from other stories, thank you so much for the support, and I hope you enjoy what I have planned for this one... I'm excited!
> 
> I'm trying out different writing styles with this collection of musically inspired shorts... this one is a little lighter and more fun. 
> 
> The Ben Solo in this one was inspired by the thought that what if Ben had been more of a chip off the ole Han block. His lonely aspect in this fic comes from the life he leads, leading to isolation. 
> 
> Kenobi surname, because I just like the sound.
> 
> Let me know what you think! And please do share it with anyone else who might enjoy it))


End file.
